‘Close to Making Deal with India,’ Says Trump Amid Fresh Tariffs on 14 Countries

‘Close to Making Deal with India,’ Says Trump: US slaps fresh tariffs on several countries, Trump says trade deal with India close US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Washington was close to making a trade deal with India. Trade negotiators from Washington and New Delhi are working to finalise a tariff reducing deal but dairy and agriculture are the sticking points.

"We made a deal with the United Kingdom, we made a deal with China, we're close to making a deal with India," Trump said, adding letters stating fresh tariffs were sent to other countries.

“We’ve finalised deals with the UK and China, and we're nearing one with India,” Trump said, adding that letters imposing new tariffs had been sent to other nations.

"Others we met with, and we don't think we're going to be able to make a deal, so we just send them a letter," he said.

This came after he announced new trade measures with countries including Bangladesh, Thailand, South Korea and Japan to take effect from August 1.

"We're sending out letters to various countries telling them how much tariffs they have to pay. Some will maybe adjust a little bit depending if they have a cause, we're not going to be unfair about it," the US President said.

His remarks on US-India trade deal came after a week of talks between officials in Washington. Reports said both sides were looking for tangible outcomes before July 9 deadline set by Trump.

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Last week Union Minister Piyush Goyal had said India was ready to make trade deals with US in national interest.

Trump Sends Tariff Letters To 14 More Countries Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Serbia, Tunisia, South Africa, South Korea and Thailand are the countries named in Trump’s “wave of letters” detailing fresh tariffs.

He has set 25% tax on goods from Japan and South Korea and new tariff rates on other countries to take effect from August 1.

Imports from Laos will be taxed at 40%, Cambodia and Thailand at 36%, Serbia and Bangladesh at 35%, Indonesia at 32%, South Africa and Bosnia and Herzegovina at 30% and Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Tunisia at 25%.

“We're sending out letters to various countries telling them how much tariffs they have to pay,” Trump said.

He said the countries were “ripping” the US and “were charging us tariffs at levels that nobody’s ever seen before. We have some countries that were charging 200% tariffs and making it impossible to do business.

“And what the tariffs are doing is they're driving people in and companies into the United States,” he said while speaking to reporters ahead of a bilateral dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House on Monday.

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Trump also repeated the claim that he stopped the war between India and Pakistan by telling the two neighbours that Washington would not do trade with them if they continued the fighting.

“We did a job with India and Pakistan, Serbia, Kosovo, Rwanda and the Congo, and this was all over the last three weeks or so… and others that were ready to fight,” Trump said.

“I would say firm, but not 100% firm. If they call up and they say we'd like to do something a different way, we're going to be open to that,” Trump said when asked if the deadline for the tariffs was firm.

However, India reportedly modified its demand for protect its farmers. “The livelihoods of millions of farmers are at stake as they could not compete with America’s commercial-scale dairy farms,” a person familiar with the discussions had earlier said.

India is still not opening up fully its agricultural sector especially on GM crops and dairy products.

India had originally sought withdrawal of all retaliatory tariffs – a 10% baseline tariff currently imposed and an additional 16% country specific tariff before the deadline announced by Trump on April 2.

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